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Weezer Still Making a Scene
by Joe Robinson
Nearly 15 years after unleashing "The Blue Album" on the world, Weezer are seeing red. The geek-rock veterans recently dropped their self-titled sixth disc -- quickly nicknamed "The Red Album" by fans -- and are gearing up to hit the road to promote it and its smash first single, "Pork & Beans." In between those two bookends, Weezer have churned out modern-rock hits like "Hash Pipe" and "Beverly Hills," gone on hiatus while frontman Rivers Cuomo finished his degree at Harvard University and even weathered a critical backlash from fans not into 2005's Make Believe, which still managed to sell more than a million copies. "The Red Album" moved 126,000 units in its first week out to land at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Cuomo is Weezer's de facto leader, but "Red" is a team effort. Guitarist Brian Bell, bassist Scott Shriner and drummer Patrick Wilson each take turns on vocals and all contributed in the writing department, making this album their most eclectic yet. "[It has] longer songs, nontraditional song forms, different people writing and singing, instrument switching, TR-808s, synths, Southern rap and baroque counterpoint -- for starters," Cuomo tells Pitchfork.com. Cuomo himself penned current No. 1 modern-rock single "Pork & Beans" after record label executives asked him to come up with some more commercial-friendly fare. It mines the catchy power pop of early Weezer songs like Pinkerton classic "El Scorcho," melding arena-sized hooks with the studio sheen of producer Jacknife Lee (R.E.M., U2). The song's video, meanwhile, features a who's who of YouTube stars such as quirky "Chocolate Rain" singer Tay Zonday and tongue-tied Miss Teen South Carolina Lauren Upton.
Weezer are planning to support "The Red Album" with a highly unusual promotional trek called the Hootenanny tour that will invite fans to bring their own instruments to each show for a massive Weezer jam session. "They can bring whatever they want," Shriner tells the Toledo Free Press. "Oboes, keyboards, drums, violins, and play the songs with us as opposed to us performing for them." Weezer also expect to roll out a more conventional U.S. arena tour in the fall.
VELVET REVOLVER WON'T AUDITION SINGERS ON "ROCK STAR":
VELVET REVOLVER still haven't found a singer to replace SCOTT WEILAND . . . but they have ruled out using reality TV to do it. Drummer MATT SORUM admits that they were approached . . . (--by blood-sniffing reality TV shark MARK BURNETT) . . . about possibly doing their own season of "Rock Star". Thankfully, though, they turned it down. Matt says, quote, "We got offered a couple of different television ideas, you know. Mark Burnett called us and asked us to do that 'Rock Star' thing and we basically said 'no' to that. We didn't feel it was right for us. "No disrespect to him, but it just didn't feel right for what we want to do. As many years as we've tried to keep our integrity intact, we felt that wasn't the right forum for us to do it, so we got some ideas and we should have that news in a couple weeks."
He didn't elaborate on those "ideas" . . . but he did hype up the "news" as something pretty big. He says, quote, "We're coming out with something in a couple of weeks and I think it's going to surprise everybody. It's exciting. We're moving forward. "We're going to keep going and play rock 'n' roll and get a new guy singing. We did it before . . . [and] we'll do it again." Scott Weiland was officially booted from Velvet Revolver in early April.
RIKKI ROCKETT HAS BEEN CLEARED OF RAPE CHARGES:
POISON drummer RIKKI ROCKETT announced on his MySpace page that he has been cleared of felony rape charges. Back in March, Rikki . . . who's real name is RICHARD ALLAN REAM . . . was picked up and booked on suspicion of committing a rape that allegedly occurred in Mississippi last September. But in his post, Rikki said the charges were dropped after authorities determined that he wasn't even in Mississippi last September. (--You can read the entire report on Rikki's MySpace page, here . . .)
AEROSMITH GUITARIST COMMENTS ON STEVEN TYLER REHAB STINT
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry spoke briefly with Blender magazine about last week's report that singer Steven Tyler had checked into rehab after 20 years of sobriety. Perry said, "I actually haven't talked to (Steven) in a while. We spend most of our time off the road split up -- that's just how it goes." When asked if he knew what Tyler had gone in for, Perry replied, "I'm not sure, but I hope he's doing okay."
Perry himself is walking with a cane after recently having total knee-replacement surgery. He told Blender, "I'm about eight or nine weeks out from it...I'll be up and running probably within the next month. We have some press to do for Guitar Hero and hopefully I'll be able to make some of those events."
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is due out on June 29th, and will be available for Playstations 2 and 3, the Wii and Xbox 360. The 60-year-old Tyler, clean and sober since 1986, checked himself into Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, California and sought the help of celebrity drug counselor Dr. Drew Pinsky last week. The center is also the setting for the reality TV series Celebrity Rehab. There's been no official word on what Tyler is seeking treatment for, but a report by the Boston Herald last week said that friends blamed his apparent relapse into substance abuse on his two-year relationship with reportedly hard-partying girlfriend Erin Brady. Other sources, however, suggested that Tyler had gotten hooked on painkillers because of numerous health issues he's faced over the last few years, including a bout of hepatitis C, two foot surgeries and a procedure on his throat.
WEEZER PREMIERES YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Weezer launched its YouTube channel on Friday (May 23rd), kicking things off with the premiere of the video for the band's current single, "Pork and Beans." The clip features a number of YouTube celebrities such as "Chocolate Rain"'s Tay Zonday, "Junior Miss South Carolina" Lauren Caitlin, Judson Laipply from "Evolution of Dance" and more than a dozen others. The channel itself features an introduction from the band, behind-the-scenes clips from the shoot for the "Pork and Beans" video, some older music videos and new content which will be announced soon. Guitarist Brian Bell said about the making of the "Pork and Beans" clip, "It was mayhem making the video...we were performing with all these amazing YouTube celebrities, and I felt like I had walked into my own computer."
Weezer's self-titled sixth album will arrive on June 3rd, three weeks ahead of its original June 24th release date. The date was moved up after eight songs were leaked online earlier this month. The CD's opening cut, called "Troublemaker," is now available through the iTunes store, following "Pork and Beans" and "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)."
ALICIA KEYS EYES WHITE STRIPES COLLABORATION
Alicia Keys is eying a collaboration with the White Stripes. She's already chatted with the band and said once they can work out the timing, they'll make it happen. According to RollingStone.com, she raved about the rockers, saying, "They're very raw, very cut and dry. It's like drums and guitar," she said. "It's that simple, and I love that." She added, "I think that combining that style with mine, which already has a raw feel to it, and my voice, I just think we could do something really interesting that mixes rock and soul together, the blues and emotion, and it could be really touching."
Keys doesn't want to stop there. She also expressed interest in teaming with Queens of the Stone Age, Linkin Park and Coldplay. Keys will perform in Atlanta tomorrow (Wednesday, May 28th).
LED ZEPPELIN NOT PLAYING TORONTO, SAY PROMOTERS, REPS
Led Zeppelin will not be performing in Toronto anytime soon, despite reports in the Canadian media that four shows from the legendary rock band were in the works for the Rogers Centre, the stadium formerly known as the Skydome. A spokesperson for the U.S. representatives of guitarist Jimmy Page told us that there have been no talks about any North American concerts in Canada or elsewhere for the rest of 2008, while a report at Billboard.com said the rumor was checked out at the "highest levels," concluding that there was "nothing to it." According to Jam! Music, Rogers Centre spokesperson Nadia Flaim said, "I would love to be able to say that they are coming, however at this time there is no scheduled date for a performance by the band in August."
Ms. Flaim, however, was the same spokesperson who told Toronto's Globe and Mail last week that there had been "preliminary discussions" about Zeppelin appearing at the stadium. This latest round of speculation began with a report posted at the web site of Canada's Much Music channel last week, in which a "reliable source" indicated that the band would perform four shows at the stadium in August. Rumors have been rampant about a Led Zeppelin tour ever since last December, when the three surviving original members and drummer Jason Bonham performed at London's O2 Arena as part of a tribute to late Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun. None of the band members have ruled out playing together again, but singer Robert Plant is touring through late July with singer Alison Krauss and drummer Jason Bonham has several late August gigs booked with Foreigner, giving any potential Zeppelin shows just a small window of time for rehearsal and preparation.
ROGER WATERS SAYS DAVID GILMOUR IS THE OBSTACLE TO PINK FLOYD REUNION
Roger Waters says that the main obstacle to a Pink Floyd reunion is guitarist David Gilmour. Waters spoke to Britain's The Word magazine and when pressed about the prospects of Floyd reuniting in the future, Waters candidly explained, "The answer is... not up to me. The answer is: I'd be very happy to do it but it's sort of up to Dave, I guess. But I don't think he wants to do it, so I don't think it'll happen. And that's absolutely fair enough. It's not going to change my life, but I did love (playing) Live 8. I thought it was really, really, special."
He went on to explain that although he was overwhelmed by the reunion, which took place after years of lawsuits and in-fighting between him and the band, the feeling was far from unanimous: "The feeling was... it was so... it was so intense... I'm quite sure that we didn't all feel that -- but most of us did."
Waters shed light on the status of his current relationship with Gilmour: "Well we never speak to each other. But we don't speak to each other in a very cordial way! I feel no enmity at all... Nick (Mason) and I have a more than cordial relationship. We met up on a beach in Mustique and we've become great friends again."
He went on to say that the troubled life and death of Syd Barrett has always been misrepresented in the press, especially following his death in 2005 at age 60: "I think it's a great shame that people swallowed the notion that he suddenly took a lot of acid and it destroyed him... There was something much more fundamental about Syd's schizophrenia than taking too much acid. I still feel regret that we weren't able to enjoy his company for all those years when he disappeared into the illness. But I think of him often."
Roger Waters recently performed a series of shows in which played Pink Floyd's 1973 album Dark Side Of the Moon in its entirety. He'll next perform on June 6th in St. Petersburg, Russia.
NEW ON CD TODAY:
"The Tide and Its Takers", 36 Crazyfists (--This is that metal band that says they named themselves after an old Jackie Chan movie.)
TUESDAY TV REMINDERS:
"Maxim Hot 100" . . . 9:00 to 10:00 P.M. on VH1. (--An eye candy countdown.)
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS:
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt (celebrity infant) (2)
Todd Bridges (actor, Diff'rent Strokes) (43)
Siouxsie Sioux (Siouxsie & The Banshees) (51)
Louis Gossett Jr. (actor, Roots, An Officer and a Gentleman) (72)
Henry Kissinger (former Secretary of State, winner of the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize) (85)
Lee Meriwether (actress, 1955 Miss America) (73)
Joseph Fiennes (actor, Shakespeare In Love, Elizabeth, Stealing Beauty) (38)
Jamie Oliver (TVs Naked Chef) (33)
Ramsey Lewis (jazz keyboardist) (73)
Christopher Lee (actor, the Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars: Episode II and III; played Count Dracula and Fu Manchu several times in his career) (86)
Andre 3000 (rapper, of OutKast) (33)
Pete Sears (bassist, Jefferson Starship, did lots of 1970s session work including for Rod Stewart) (60)
Neil Finn (singer-guitarist, Split Enz, Crowded House) (50)
Bruce Cockburn (singer-songwriter) (63)
Adam Carolla (comedian/co-host, Loveline, The Man Show, Crank Yankers) (44)
Cilla Black (singer, "You're My World") (65) |
